Electric heater for railway switches



1. B;- FEDER. ELEcImc HEATER Fon RA'IL'wAY swxTcHEs.

"APPLICATION FILED DEC. 8,' 1.920.

Pafnted Sept. 19, 1922.

Patented Sept. 19; 1922.

PATENToF FICE.

.TosEPiTR FEDER, oEEAsT ORANGE, NEW JERSEY.

o ELECTRIC HEATER EoR RAILWAY SWITCHES.

Application led December 8, 1920.y Serial No. 429,068.

To all 'whom 'it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOSEPH B.FEDER, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of EastOrange, in the county of Essex and State of New Jersey, have invented new and useful Improvements in Electric Heaters for Railway Switches, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates ingeneral to railway track' switches and more particularly to improved heating means for such switches for melting snow and ice at and in the vicinity of the switch points to ensure proper operation thereofin cold weather.

The objects of the invention` are `to provide improved means for electrically heating the switch points to maintain them clearv of lsnow and ice; to provide improved electric heating elements directly in the slide plates of the switch controlled from a point distant from the switch and which will constantly maintain the slide plates and switch points at a suiicient temperature to melt the 'snow and ice thereabout; to provide a slide plate for railway track switches havingan electric heating element removably mounted therein; to

provide an electrically heated slide plate em-` bodying novel features of construction including a main plate and a top or bearing' plate to support a switch point, and an electric heating coil'embodied directly therein between said main plate and top or bearing plate; to provide such a construction which will withstand the shocks incident to the use of railway switches and which is weatherproof; to provide an improved electric heattion to railway switch slidev plates,` and to obtain otherresults and advantages as may be brought out by the following description.

Referring to the accompanying drawings,`

i sectionalview through one side ofthe switch taken on line 2-2 ofy Fig. 1;

p tween the main plate oints which may be Flgure is an enlarged vtransverse vertical sectional view taken ontheline 6 6 of Fig. 4, showing the heating coil arranged bey and top plate of the switch slide plate;

Figure 7 is a fragmentary plan view of a modified winding of the heating coil, and

Figure 8 is atransverse vertical sectional view taken on the line 8-8 of Fig. 7.

My invention is shown on the drawings as applied lto the slide plates A of a conventional railway switch comprising the straight rail B; the turn-out rail C and the switch points D, all beingmounted on the usual ties E. Y y E A slide plate constructed in accordance with one form of my invention comprises a main plate' 1 upon one end of which is adapted to be secured the main rail, and upon the other end of which is mounted the top orpbearing plate 2 which is adapted to slidably receive the switch point. The underside of the top plate 2 is recessed at 3 to receive the' electric heating coil embodying my 'l by'means of the rivets Ll, 5 and, a gasket ing coil particularly adapted for applica 7 being interposed between the' top plate 2 and the main plate l to prevent liquid from leaking' into the recess 3. The top plate 2 and main plate l are further provided with openingsS and 9 to receive a conventional spike or bolt yfor securing the slide plate to the railwaytiei My improved heated coil comprises a central insulating plate 10 which is recessed at one end thereof as at 'll to fit around the openings 8 and `9'through whichthe spike or bolt passes. and which is provided with a central longitudinal slot l2 enlarged intermediate its ends as at 13 to clear the rivet 5. The resistance element is preferably formed of a single length of ribbon wire 111 coiled around the insulating plate 10 between the side edges thereof and the edges of the slot 12 so as to form in effect a pair of parallel heating coils which are connected `at one end thereof at 15 by a turn of-wire which extends the full width of the plate 10. The ends 16 of the coil are connected at 17 to the cables 18 which lead to the main line, the said cables entering the recess 3 through insulating bushings 19 fitted in grooves 2O and provided with transverse segmental ribs 21 iitting in correspondingly shaped recesses 22 formed in the top plate 2, the said insulating bushings preventing water or foreign matter from entering the recess 3, and the ribs 21 preventing the bushings from displacement. T he central insulating plate 10 and the heating coil are interposed between a pair of .insulating plates 23 which serve to prevent contact of the coil with the main plate 1 and top plate 2, the said insulating plates 10 and being rigidly secured to the top plate 2 by means of suitable bolts or rivets 2&1. The cables 1S are connected in any suitable manner to the main line wires 25 through which electric current can be supplied to the various coils in the slide plates from any distance. I have found that with which such a heating coil I can maintain a temperature of substantially 350 F. in the slide plates with a minimum consumption of current, and the temperature in the various coils can be easily regulated by conventional means such as a rheostat.

The electric heating coil wound as shown in Figure 5 is particularly adapted for use with direct current inasmuch as there is no reversal of current and hence no rcactanee developed by the coil. lhen alternating current is to be used the turn 15 of the coil is preferably passed from one side of the plate 10 through an opening 26 in the plate to the opposite side thereof, as shown in Figures 7 and 8. thereby reversing the direction of the windings of the two sides of the coil. rlhe magnetic lields set up by each winding of each side of the coil, due to the alternating current, will then be in opposite directions, the resultant magnetic field of the entire coil being zero. Thus, no reactance will be developed by the coil.

lVith this construction it will be seen that the electric heating element is embodied directly in the slide plate, so that there is practically no waste of current in heating the ground adjacent the switch, the heat from the slide plates being transmitted directly to the switch points so as to concentrate the heat at the point where it is most required to melt the snow and ice to maintain the switch in condition for proper operation. To prevent the escape of the heat from-the the rivets 4, 5 and 6 to detach the heating 'plate 2 eflectively protects the heating coil from injury from either the shocks incident to the use of the switch or the weather conditions, and also enables the application of the coil or the removal thereof from the slide plates to be made in a simple and quick manner, it being merely necessary to remove coil from the slide plate. Thus the coils can be used interchangeably with numbers of slide plates, and the deterioration of the slide plates from wear does not impair the operation of or necessitate the discarding of the heating coil.

lVhile I have shown and described one embodiment of my invention, it will be understood that this is for the purpose of illustrating the principles thereof only, and that many modifications and changes can be made in the detail construction thereof by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention, Therefore, I do not wish `to be understood as limiting myself except as required by the following claims when construed in the light of the prior art.

Having thus described the invention, what I claim is:

1. A slide plate for railway track switches including a body portion to support a switch point, and electrical heating means removably mounted in said body portion.

2. A slide plate for railway track switches 105 including a body portion to support a switch point and having a recess therein, an electrical heating element, and means for removably mounting said heating element in said recess.

8. A slide plate for railway track switches comprising a main plate, a bearing plate to support the switch point, and electrical heating means arranged between said main plate and said bearing plate.

il. In a slide plate for railway track switches, the combination of a main plate, a top plate secured to said main plate to support a switch point, said top plate being formed with a recess in the side thereof 120 adjacent said main plate, and an electric heating coil mounted in said recess.

5. In a slide plate for railway track switches, the combination of a main plate,

a top plate secured to said main plate to sup- 125 port a switch point, said slide plate being formed with a recess between said main plate and said top plate, and an electric heating element mounted in said recess, said element comprising an insulating plate having 13( and a pair of openings extending outwardly 10 from said recess, an electrical heating element mounted within said recess and having its terminals projecting outwardly through said openings, and packing means for eX- cluding foreign matter from said recess and openings.

JOSEPH B. FEDER. 

